I would like to dedicate my first spill to.... stupidity!! Nothing real stupid, I just took a turn too sharp too slowly, ~20-ish I think. I kinda knew it was bad idea, but thought I could sort it out.

The nice thing was that two people stopped to ask if I was okay, and generally I was, apart from a really sore left hand. Fortunately my gear did its job apart from my jacket ripping near the forearm and a little road rash there. So the lesson I'm taking a way from this is not basically not try to push anything and just chill, which is what I normally do.

I have some questions for you folks. The bike didn't start up quickly but it did start after 5 minutes. Damage includes: scratches on the end of the handle bars, brake levers, some rubber thing near the gear shifter that pretty much melted away, pierced radiator hose, bent rear brake, melted frame sliders (thank god for those, no tank scratches), and then scratches on the front cowl, rear wheel bolts, small ones on both sides of the tail and exhaust shield.

I didn't call in the accident. Haven't spoken to my insurance company either. I rode the bike home, couldn't use the rear brake since it wasn't in usable shape but it seems to work. I removed the hose and let the coolant spill out after the bike cooled a bit. I think I should definitely have the bike looked over in case something else happened I can't spot. I can probably bend the rear brake back so I can use it and replace the radiator hose, so I can ride it to the shop, but what about the insurance company. I use a discount insurer so I just call, but what about not reporting it? Any issues there? Am I going to see my premiums jacked up real high?

Thanks for the tips. Apart from the sore left hand, which I may get looked if it doesn't get better soon, I'm thankfully alright.

I wouldn't report it. Not only will it reflect on your bike policy, but most likely on your auto policy as well. If there was no police report, then don't tell your insurance. Fix it yourself, it'll save you more in the long run.

Go to HondaPartsDirect.com and get all the little stuff you need, and have a shop do the rest. Sounds like you are well under $1000, so by the time you paid your deductible and higher premiums over the next couple years you'd be much better off just fixing it yourself. Highly unlikely that anything real traumatic happened so I wouldn't stress to much about the bike being "unrideable".

Thanks for the advice. I checked out the parts website and it's really cool that you can order the basic things you need. I managed to start the bike up again when I got home and i let it sit for an hour or so. I believe it's "ridable" - I rode it back home a couple of miles. It was definitely strange just relying on the front brake, I'm use to basically using both. I was planning on riding it to the shop that's about 20 miles from my home.

Most of the parts aren't very expensive and some I think replace some of them, like the scratched up bolts, hoses, etc...

I didn't even think about this reflecting on my auto policy and I'm sure the insurance companies "talk" to each other. So maybe it's a good idea for me to just do what I can on my own, have the shop fix what I'm not comfortable with and let them do a inspection at the end.

We'll see, I definitely like to avoid paying more in the end. My only real concern is not seeing what other damage occurred but that's what the shop is for. I figure though that these bikes are made to handle spills at 15-20 mph and not suffer frame (alignment?) damage.

Dude I got hit by a minivan at 15-20mph and didn't bend my frame. Or at least not enough that anyone could tell. My bike was totalled and only cost about $1200 to fix. You'll be fine.

Glad you're okay. It sounds like your bike hit on both sides.

JBarx, I know, I'm being lame since it's my first wipe out. I remembering reading your story about the van hitting you and your decision process on what to do with the bike, etc... Didn't know it was only $1200, gives me some perspective.

Robk, Yeah, it was flopped on both sides like a fish out of water, it was very sad seeing actually. I was tumbling on the ground and could see the bike flopping around, whaling in pain (sorry dude... you'll be fixed soon...)

The weirdest part about the accident was that I could see things happening, it wasn't moving that fast it seemed. I tumbled a lot, somehow managed to not get hurt bad. My visor is scratched up, but the helmet is untouched.

JBarx, how was your helmet situation after your accident? Did you send it back to manufacturer? Buy a new one?

The right sleeve of my jacket tore, fortunately the sleeves are removable, so maybe I can get BMW to send me a spare sleeve?

JBarx, I know, I'm being lame since it's my first wipe out.
No no... it's totally understandable.

JBarx, how was your helmet situation after your accident? Did you send it back to manufacturer? Buy a new one?
None of the above. I put it back on and wore it. Still do to this day. I've been down twice with it and both times I'm not sure if my head ever made contact with anything because there aren't very convincing marks on it anywhere. And it's flat black - breathe on it the wrong way and it leaves marks. So yeah - by the book i guess i should have done something about it but I'm closing in on two years with this helmet so I'll get another one sometime in the not-so-distant future and keep the old one for a spare/passenger helmet.

If it's not scratched, it's almost guaranteed that you didn't hit your head, so you're probably right in not worrying about it...

The bike flipped from one side to the other from a 20 MPH spill? You might have been going a little hotter than you thought...

Don't worry about the difficulty starting. That's happened all three times my bike was on its side. I don't know why, maybe the carbs flooding, but it always takes a little time to start it after you pick it up. You let it sit an hour idling? I did that once becase I was drunk and forgot about it (trying to heat my exhaust up to cure the paint) and when I went out, the freaking triples and handlebars were even pretty hot.

JHenley, I didn't let the bike idle for an hour :) I let it sit for a while though before I started it, to see if it would start right. I once did that with my car though because it has one of those key systems that doesn't require you to do anything except open doors, push the starter, etc... I wasn't use to it and left my car on at Hooters for like 3-4 hours.

The flopping occurred because it hit the side of a curb and flopped over. I'm pretty sure I wasn't going that hot, I'm thinking 20-25-ish really.

The gear did it's job and saved my butt - I have a new found respect, and love, for those shoulder/elbow/back padding in my jacket. I would've been in bad shape without it. My pants have hip and knee protectors too, worked like a charm, no bruises. Boots helped too, nothing wrong with my ankles. Of course my FFH saved me from turning into Harvey Dent.

Gotta respect the gear but I gotta cool it next time so I don't need to test how effective it is :)

It was probably some fuel or something in your carbs.

I pulled over once and layed my bike down, gently, in some grass. I had to wait a few minutes for it to start. I didn't want to wail on the starter and have a dead battery too.

Sorry about your get-off

But I'm curious what actually caused it?

I mean its amazing what the bike is capable of, 99% of single bike accidents are rider errors or SR's (Survival Reactions)

If you were already in the corner did you panic and roll off the the throttle? Got tight on the bars? Panic Brake? Target fixation(focused on the ditch)? Not looking through the corner?

I just got done reading twist of the wrist II sorry.

I agree with on the bike, it's light and has lots of power, you really don't need a more powerful bike if you're a really good rider.

My problem wasn't panicking. I've been in a couple of situations where I've had to lean hard and keep the throttle smooth and had only 1-2 seconds to figure that out and execute. I don't think there was any gravel or sand either. I knew before I took the turn that at the speed I was going I was going to have problems, but I figured that I could sort it out with some quick leaning and rolling on the throttle.

Didn't work so well.... :)

I should have slowed down to a safer speed, like they teach you, and accelerate through the turn like normal. Oh well, I'm in one piece and learned my lesson. Now I have to deal with getting parts, getting my jacket repaired, ...

I found too that hondaparts-direct.com is closing down, but I got my orders in before they announced that. They are saying they will fulfill all orders before 6/12, I hope so!

"I kinda knew it was bad idea, but thought I could sort it out."

My favorite part of the story and the most true even to those who have just had "pucker" moments!